Abuja, March 8, 2019 The Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) on Friday called the attention of security agencies to nine `battleground states’ in the country to tackle ahead of the March 9 elections.

Dr Joe Abbah, member of the CDD, Election Analysis Centre (EAC) at a news conference on the group’s pre-election report in Abuja listed the states as Lagos, Kano, Kaduna, Imo, Adamawa, Ogun, Plateau, Bauchi and Sokoto.

According to Abah, Saturday’s elections are important because governors are about the most strategic positions in governance and whoever emerges winner often has a direct bearing on good governance and improved or worsened security.

He said that during the last elections, one of the challenges encountered was thuggery orchestrated by some of the governors.

He said that there was a strong possibility that some of them would be tempted to use the vast resources at their disposal to affect electoral outcomes.

“Our hope is that citizens have closely monitored and assessed the performance of their governors and are ready to sanction bad governors,’’ he said.

Abah said that in Lagos State, the EAC believed that the contest would be a highly competitive one between the two major parties so issues such as the denial of a second term to the current state Gov. Akinwunmi Ambode would shape the outcome of the polls in the state.

He said that it would be a contest cast in terms of capturing the ethnic voting banks controlled by the two major ethnic groups in the state – the Yoruba and Igbo.

He said the EAC noted that the two states of Kano and Imo, where 29 and 65 candidates respectively were jostling for the governorship post presented peculiar cases.

Abah said that in Kaduna and the other states, the governorship position was hanging, adding that there was need for security agencies to be at alert to avoid cases of violence in those states.

He said that in its effort to monitor and provide factual analysis and updates on the Saturday polls, the CDD’s EAC was collaborating with the media to deploy about 100 journalists to monitor the elections in states.

He said that this would help to expose irregularities and provide timely updates on the Election Day and later during the collation of results.

“The guidelines provide for measures to protect the electoral process and the people involved, ranging from the election officials, observers, the media and above all, the voters.

“Doing so will also increase public confidence and consequently enhance the credibility of the electoral process.

“To do so effectively, there is need to review the security architecture in the light of the global pandemic and come up with clear guidelines, as well as supplementary Code of Conduct for security personnel on election duty.

“As the prevailing COVID-19pandemic will impact on the planning and deployment strategy for the conduct of elections generally, it is necessary for ICCES to evolve effective ways of securing and protecting the integrity of the electoral process.

“Fortunately, in the aftermath of recent governorship elections, ICCES set up an ad hoc committee to advise it on security arrangements for future elections.

“The report of the committee, which will be presented for consideration at this meeting, is coming at an auspicious time.

“We should, as a matter of urgency, come up with a policy and code of conduct for security personnel in the context of the COVID-19pandemic,” Yakubu said.

He disclosed that 15 out of 18 registered political parties had invited the commission to monitor their primaries for the nomination of candidates for the Edo Governorship, while the process for Ondo governorship election would be between July 2 to July 25.

Yakubu, who said there were already warning signals the parties primaries for the elections were going to be acrimonious, called on security agencies to be proactive by meeting early, with political parties and aspirants for peaceful primaries and elections.

“As you are aware, the conduct of primaries by political parties tends to be very acrimonious.

Witek said during a press conference that she had received no objections from the National Electoral Commission (PKW) against the proposed election date, and hoped that the election campaign will be fair and that all election activities will be carried out efficiently.

Duda, a former MEP for the right-wing PiS, was polled to have over 50 percent support during the pandemic, while other candidates were unable to campaign on the ground due to the lockdown. A support rate of over 50 percent could normally hand him a second term without the need for a run-off election with any viable runner-up candidates.

The newly announced elections will be held traditionally with optional postal voting. The PKW can, at the request of the country’s health minister, mandate postal-only voting in districts where COVID-19 could cause health concerns.

Mongolia’s General Election Commission (GEC) has officially registered all 76 people nominated by the opposition Democratic Party (DP) as candidates for the forthcoming parliamentary elections, the DP said Thursday.

More than 70 percent of the party’s candidates are newcomers who have never served as ministers or members of parliament, Tsend Baatarkhuu, secretary-general of the DP, told a press conference.

In addition, 46 percent of the party’s candidates are economists and financiers, and 33 percent are lawyers, said the official.

Burundian human rights commission says general elections held fairly

The Burundian National Independent Human Rights Commission on Saturday evening said the general elections on May 20 were held in a “good and fair” manner.

“I confirm that elections took place at a time when peace, security and human rights were respected,” said Sixte Vigny Nimuraba, chairman of the commission, in a press statement released in Burundi’s economic center Bujumbura.

Nimuraba urged security forces to continue being professional in protecting human rights as they did on the polling day. He also called on political competitors to respect results of the elections once they are released.

Burundi voters went to the polls on Wednesday to elect a new president, members of the National Assembly, and district councillors. According to the agenda of the National Independent Electoral Commission, provisional results for the three polls are expected to be published on May 26.

Agathon Rwasa, a major challenger to the ruling party in the elections, on Thursday rejected provisional results released earlier in the day by a dozen of district electoral commissions, a small portion of the total 119 commissions nationwide, which showed the ruling National Council for the Defense of Democracy-Forces for the Defense of Democracy (CNDD-FDD) gained a large victory in the three elections.

The presidential candidate and chairman of the opposition National Council for Liberty party said the results are a “fantasy,” arguing he has evidence that he and his party win in those districts.

Burundi plunged into crisis in April 2015 when the current president, Pierre Nkurunziza from CNDD-FDD, decided to run his controversial third term bid, which he won in July 2015. His candidature, which was opposed by the opposition and civil society groups, resulted in a wave of protests, violence and even a failed coup in May 2015.

The overall security of Burundi has improved, and the current situation is generally stable.

France to hold delayed 2nd round of municipal elections on June 28

France has decided to organize the delayed second round of mayoral elections on June 28, which Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said on Friday is “reversible” if the coronavirus epidemic situation turns against it.

“On May 27, we will present a decree calling voters to the polls on June 28,” Philippe said at a joint press conference with Interior Minister Christophe Castaner.

Of France‘s 35,000 cities, towns and villages, about 30,000 already elected their mayors in the first round on March 15. But many large cities are among those remaining, including Paris, Lyon and Marseille, according to state-owned broadcaster France 24.

The second round of mayoral elections was originally planned on March 22, but the worsening coronavirus outbreaks and the anti-coronavirus lockdown had forced the French government to postpone it.

Philippe admitted that consultations with opposition representatives did not reach consensus but the government has to take responsibility and “the democratic life should resume.”

However, if the epidemic unfortunately rebounds, the polls will be postponed until next January at the latest, he added. The opinion of the government’s scientific advisory council will be heard two weeks ahead of the scheduled voting.

Castaner announced that wearing a mask and washing hands with hydroalcoholic gel would be compulsory for voting on June 28 and this material will be supplied by the communities assisted by the State.

As of Thursday, France‘s death toll from coronavirus topped 28,000 while new infections and patients in intensive care continued to decrease. Since May 11, the country has gradually eased restriction measures on business activities and people’s movement with the aim to relaunch the hard-hit economy.